Private India

Private India, co-written by Ashwin Sanghi and James Patterson is book eight of the highly acclaimed Private series. The plot unveils in Mumbai where a serial killer is on the loose. The victims include a doctor, journalist, film director, sitting chief justice and a host of who’s who of Mumbai society. The Mumbai branch of Private, the premiere investigating agency, Private India faces a herculean task of cracking the identity of the serial killer based on mythological clues left behind on the victims. To top it off, the modus operandi of the killer has its roots in ancient India and a bit of colonial history is also presented to the reader.

Spread over a whooping 447 pages divided into 116 short and crisp chapters Ashwin Sanghi and James Patterson have successfully been able to keep the story flowing and the overall plot mystifying. There is also a parallel plot dealing with the involvement of Pakistan's ISI and Indian Mujahedeen but I feel that this part was dealt with very shoddily.

The research done by the authors in presenting the facts are superb. The plot holds throughout the story and most of the characters introduced are simple to remember and easy to follow. It is a gripping page turner and quite suited for all ages.

As far as the packaging is concerned, the cover photography is by Alamy/picturebox.com and depicts famous landmarks of Mumbai like the Taj Hotel, Gateway of India and the Bandra-Kurla sea-link. The trademark of the Private series which is the silhouette figure of a running man is prominently present on the front cover. The embossed title together with the tagline “It’s the season for murder in Mumbai” makes you want to grab a copy.

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Shoes of the Dead

Kota Neelima’s fictional take on farmer suicides arising out of debt in her book “Shoes of the Dead”, published by Rupa Publication India Pvt. Ltd. Deals with the social, political, financial and emotional aspects of one of modern India’s most ancient problems. Set in Mityala District, a parliamentary constituency in south central India, the story revolves around characters as varied as an elected Member of Parliament out of his depth with the problems plaguing his constituency, an investigative journalist with a prominent national daily who is in the job more out of his desire than need, the beautiful wife of one of India’s most powerful business scions who prefers to work for an NGO dealing with environmental issues, a civil servant who heads a very volatile and controversial committee whose balance he maintains by playing by the book and last but not the least the central character of this novel whose decision to stay back in his native village and fight for justice when he could easily have taken the easier and more profitable route out of it makes this book a gripping read.

The author has chosen a topic that though to us urban citizens is no more than sensational headlines but for the farmers in rural India who are primarily dependent on the rains for their survival it is one that decides their fate. The vicious cycle of poverty, debt, lack of irrigation facilities / over dependence on rainfall for agriculture coupled with greed, corruption, malice and illiteracy has been the fertile bed on which this persistent problem of farmer suicide thrives.

The plot has been well woven and not once during its narration does it come undone. The best part about this novel is that the facts and circumstances that are detailed with regard to the ground realities surrounding rural India are precise and to the point and there is not a hint of absurdity or literary liberty in the events that unfold. The plot moves on in a pace of its own and holds a strange twist of fate in the end. However it is pertinent to mention without giving away much of the plot that Kota Neelima’s “Shoes of the Dead” is a must read for all citizens of India to get a glimpse of how the various socities without our system work.

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The Bankster

Before I get down to review the book let me at the very onset make it amply clear that by terming Ravi Subramanian as the John Grisham of banking The Wall Street Journal is falling way short in the praise that Mr. Subramanian richly deserves. I state this due to the fact that this novel being substantially set in India required to be perfect in research as the readership being mostly from the subcontinent would not have taken ambiguity lightly.

The story unfolds around various locations namely Angola, Kerala, Mumbai and Vienna. In Angola, South Africa a covert CIA agent exchanges weapons in lieu of blood diamonds. In Devikulum, Kerala, a septuagenarian resort owner would go to any extent to keep a promise made to his dying son ages back. In Mumbai and its suburbs, the main subject of the story revolves around employees of the Greater Boston Global Bank (GB2) posted at its headquarters and various branches. In Vienna the plot starts after twin murders and deals mostly with members of the Wien Police Headquarters and their challenge to ‘statistically’ keep the city the safest in the world. When a series of murders take place which though seem unconnected at first, later begin to collate as the protagonist Karan Panjabi, a press reporter with the Times of India, digs deeper and realizes that he has stumbled upon a global conspiracy with far reaching ramifications and consequences.

Having had firsthand knowledge of the banking industry, Ravi Subramanian has deftly and in a very lucid manner explained the functioning of a financial institution / bank and its various departments to the reader, without which it would have been impossible to follow the incidents and realize their gravity. He has also provided in depth insight into the corporate functioning and nexus that the heads of the various departments indulge in. The outcry against the setting up and commissioning of a nuclear power plant in Trikakulum displays that in present day India protests and public outcry is no longer in black and white but is as varied and colourful as the rainbow.  An angle in the plot showcases how some NGOs misuse their purpose and stoop to heinous ends.

I found the book to be unique for quite a number of reasons. Primarily, the plot though set in financial circles and dealing with money laundering and fraud (quite a boring topic in terms of a thriller) has been portrayed brilliantly. Not even once was I bored and feel the urge to skip pages. The plot unfolded at a pace that was both griping as well as digestible. The climax was refreshing and one could not have guessed it. That was a stunner! It was both educative as well as entertaining.

I think the moral behind this novel can be summed up borrowing Edmund Burke’s famous lines – “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

P.S. –  Some typos and suggestions:-  

1) In the last Para on Page 158 the ACP has twice mistakenly been referred to as the DGP.

2) In Chapter 39 Page 271, the anchor introduces the third guest as Mr. Moinuddin, retired DGP of Devikulum District. It should be either SP of the district or a DGP who once had been the SP of the district early in his career. DGP is the highest IPS rank in the state.   

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